Cattle Update

As many have already noticed, the cattle were picked up by Terry Beckner during this last week, and he came and picked up a couple of stragglers this weekend.

Terry has signed a new three year lease with the BDOA, and we look forward to hosting the cattle for the upcoming years. Thanks goes out to John Randazzo, our cattle manager, for getting the new contract done and working closely with Terry on the many aspects of our cattle program.

The cattle have been a significant source of revenue for the BDOA, which has been primarily directed to road maintenance. The cattle also allow many of us to claim an agricultural rate for Park County property taxes. There is significant value in hosting the cattle on the Bar D Ranch.

It is important that we continue with our cattle program, and we encourage everyone to remain open minded and to do their part to assist.

For example, Terry Pierce and Alan Thompson have been a huge help by making sure the wells are turned on and checking on those wells and the springs to make sure the cattle have water available to them.

Please, everyone, let’s continue to do our part.

• Make sure that we do not stress the cattle by driving too close to them, too fast. There have been many incidents where the cattle are being scattered by cars and trucks on the ranch. This is unacceptable behavior.
• Allow the cattle access to as much land as possible.
• Watch for any health issues that you may see with the cattle and let the board know of any concerns.

Recently, we have had issues causing a declining amount of acreage available for the cattle. While the board recognizes that we are all individual owners and have the right to do what we want with our property within the covenants and bylaws and Park County zoning laws and regulations, it is important to note that reductions in available acreage and the quality of the available acreage impacts the number of cattle that can be kept on the land, which results in a reduced annual budget for road maintenance. Further decreased income from the cattle lease will likely result in increased annual BDOA dues.